SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, Calif- 44 thousand people do not have enough to eat this holiday season in San Luis Obispo County and that number is continuing to grow.
According to the food bank the need for food assistance has increased 25 percent in the course of one year. One non-profit serving on Christmas Day said they are serving more and more people. Phillip Woody knows what it's like to go hungry. "It's terrible to go hungry and try towards better things," said Phillip Woody, a client of Peoples Kitchen in Grover Beach.
Woody's career ended 3 years ago and his life had changed completely. "I came here to find out if there was work in this area about three years ago, for the first 2 weeks I ate out of a dumpster, I was not upset about it, it was life, I didn't know where anything was available," said Woody.
His life changed until he found Peoples Kitchen. "I do have a job but in the needs of life it's not enough to supplement everything so I come here for food," said Woody.
Over the past year this non-profit has seen a steady increase in the number of people who are hungry. "There's usually 80 to 100 people or more all the time, a lot of people bring their children, a lot of elderly a lot of vets," said Jamaime Myer, a Supervisor at Peoples Kitchen. The biggest increase they have seen is among the elderly and families who need assistance. "A lot of people are finding it hard to be able to pay their rent and feed their kids too," said Myer.
For people like Woody, he's just glad there are people here to help. "I have lived in other communities that did not have anything like this and it is a very difficult life," said Woody.
During this holiday, volunteers are a saving grace for many people here on the central coast. "They have a lot of needs, a lot of emotional needs, spiritual needs, food needs, most of all they need a place to go, they need a place they can feel like they belong," said Myers.
